The Dallas Cowboys and superstar cornerback Trevon Diggs are engaged in discussions surrounding a potential contract extension, according to Mike Fisher of Sports Illustrated. Diggs is currently scheduled to enter a contract season in 2023. The Cowboys may have to make Diggs the highest-paid cornerback in football.

Diggs is set to earn a base salary of $4.3 million in 2023, per Spotrac. It qualifies as a severe underpay for one of the league’s game-changing cornerbacks. Diggs likely has designs on surpassing the four-year, $84 million contract signed by Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander signed last May. Alexander earns a position-high $21 million per season.

Just one month before Alexander signed his record-setting deal, Denzel Ward signed a five-year extension worth a league-leading $100 million. Ward earns $1 million less annually ($20 million) than Alexander does. These numbers represent starting points for Diggs.

Diggs could set his sights on something in the neighborhood of a five-year extension worth $107.5 million with more than $70 million in guarantees—that would be a position-record $21.5 million annually.

Alternatively, the Cowboys could opt to franchise tag Diggs at the conclusion of the 2023 campaign. Besides the fear of a long-term commitment, the franchise tag wouldn’t immediately benefit the Cowboys financially. The 2024 franchise tag figure for a cornerback is approximately $20 million—roughly what Diggs will command annually via a multi-year extension. A long-term contract allows the Cowboys to spread out Diggs’ cap charges, whereas the franchise tag would place the Cowboys on the hook for a fully-guaranteed $20 million in 2024. That’s not advantageous for a franchise that’s scheduled to be up against the cap next season.

The No. 51 overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, Diggs exploded as a sophomore in 2021 by recording a historic 11 interceptions. By doing so, Diggs tied the Cowboys’ single-season record held by Everson Walls. Diggs’ 11 takeaways were the highest single-season mark by any NFL player since Walls in 1981.

As expected, Diggs’ ball production regressed in 2022, but the former Alabama standout continued to establish himself as a premier cornerback. Diggs was a workhorse while playing 655 coverage snaps across 17 regular-season appearances. Diggs was the focal point of a stingy Cowboys secondary that allowed an eighth-ranked 200.9 passing yards per game.

Diggs isn’t the lone Cowboy that is engaged in contract discussions. Extensions for wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott also loom large. Diggs, unlike Lamb and Prescott, is in the final season of his four-year rookie contract. His negotiation should take priority as a result.

Now’s an excellent time for the Cowboys to negotiate Diggs’ contract. They’re currently equipped with roughly $24.1 million in cap space, according to Spotrac. Prescott’s impending extension is also expected to lower the quarterback’s cap hit. An agreement should be reached before Prescott carries an unmanageable cap hit of $59.4 million in 2024. Prescott’s new deal should give Dallas the flexibility required to sign Lamb and Diggs.

The Cowboys have various franchise-altering decisions to make this summer. Expect their front-office brass to solidify Diggs’ future in Dallas via a lucrative contract extension to keep him with the Cowboys for the foreseeable future.